With the exception of the Sunbow animated series, nearly every incarnation of G.I. Joe has featured the Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow conflict. This pair of characters evolved into a classic Yin-Yang pairing– right down to their color schemes! From the epic battle in G.I. Joe Resolute to the famed encounter in the Silent Castle in G.I. Joe vol 1 #21, the inevitable duel of these characters is something that fans clamor for. Their encounters in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra were lackluster at best but the clips revealed thus far promise some truly epic action from the ninja sword brothers. (This time Snake Eyes won’t be stuck hanging onto the bottom of an SUV while Accelerator Suits hog the action.) Regardless of the outcome, any conflict between these two is bound to be rife with tension– and that makes for good viewing!

He’s the premiere Saboteur of Cobra. Depending on your “continuity of preference” he’s a burned pyro-maniac that talks to fire, the “Faceless Master” of the Arashikage clan, or an ex-Joe who went over to the other side. Either way, Firefly is kind of the “Boba Fett” of the G.I. Joe mythos– mysterious, masked, and extremely deadly. With so much creative liberty taken with the characterizations of the Cobra cast in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra it will be interesting to see how the incredibly talented Ray Stevenson portrays this mercenary saboteur on the big screen. Early synopsis information and interviews seem to indicate that Firefly will be closer to his Sigma 6 portrayal than the classic Marvel version. Either way, it’ll be good to see him on the big screen on March 28, 2013!

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Ever since the first trailer debuted, this craft reminded me of the Cobra Water Moccasin. The sleek fan-powered shallow water vessel first made it’s debut back in 1984 and has been a mainstay of the Cobra freshwater navy ever since. Now, while it’s nice to see an homage to the original vessel in the film I think that the Cobra fan boat is more important for another reason: it is another example of how the G.I. Joe Retaliation design team has referenced the source material where possible. Considering the Cobra Fangboat was released as movie tie-in toy and is essentially reuse of the 25th Anniversary Water Moccasin release, the fan boat could have been used in the movie at Hasbro’s insistence. However, given how much control that Paramount Pictures’ production designers had over the look of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra I like to think that this was included because the folks who were making the film wanted to go back to the source material. They could have used any watercraft for the scenes with Cobra Commander and Storm Shadow but instead they went with something that is a direct reference to a classic G.I. Joe toy. In my book, that’s pure win!

Check out the rest of Twitziller’s awesome countdown below and check back tomorrow for the latest installment! March 28 is coming at us all like an express train!

Honestly, the text on that image sums up my feelings exactly. Sure, over the span of the comics we met up with General Joe Colton who was the original “G.I. Joe” but the franchise was always about more than one individual. It was about a dedicated team of individuals who come together to face insurmountable odds in order to protect the freedom and liberty of others. Whether in the comics or the animated series (or even the big screen), the Joes were always the ones standing between the average person and harm– and they did it without hesitation. They are and always have been heroes and it looks like G.I. Joe Retaliation has the same firm grasp on that concept as the fans do. The clips released thus far show the G.I. Joe team standing up against impossible odds because it is what they do. After all, as Roadblock says in the trailer: “World’s not saving itself.”

Check out the entire countdown below and check back for tomorrow’s addition as we get closer and closer to March 28, 2013!

It’s easy to take a picture, but it’s hard to take a good picture. The same can be said about shooting a movie. Depth of field, scene composition, subject focus– all of this play a role in telling a story in the most effective way possible. From what we’ve seen of the G.I. Joe Retaliation footage thus far all of those elements are there in spades. With multiple moving parts on the screen at any time, it would see the team behind Retaliation have created a visual comic book that will be a feast for the eyes in the way that the early Marvel issues were on the printed page.

After a nine month delay, we’re in the home stretch. Check out Twitziller’s entire countdown to March 28th below!

I’m a huge fan of the James Bond films. As such, seeing Cobra using a space-based super weapon to threaten the world is nothing new– but it evokes images of the classic film You Only Live Twice. In that film, SPECTRE is using their own space capsule to capture those of the Russians and the Americans in an attempt to start World War 3. The trailers for G.I. Joe Retaliation also conjure up images of both Goldeneye and Die Another Day in which satellite weapons were the primary threat used by the protagonists. For a super secret global terrorist organization such as Cobra, this makes perfect sense. It’s a weapon that can’t be defended against easily and it can strike anywhere. Even just a few years ago, Cobra was using a sub-orbital cluster of strato-lites to maintain their communications network in G.I. Joe Resolute. So, the precedent is there and the action as revealed by the trailers thus far looks to be pretty intense.

Plus, who doesn’t love seeing a Cobra logo on the side of a satellite. That just screams out “this is going to get good!”

Check out the entire series below as the countdown to March 28 continues!

Twitziller continues the countdown as we are officially less than three weeks away from the debut of G.I. Joe Retaliation. Today’s reason to be excited: the moutain battle!

I have to admit– when I first saw a snippet of this I was a bit floored. After all, how feasible is it to have ninjas fighting ninjas suspended by ropes on the side of a mountain? So I watched the first trailer again, and again, and then I watched subsequent trailers of the mountain top sequence and I saw it for what it was– an insane ballet of blades and bodies that could only be accomplished by the ninjas in the film. This is one of those sequences that will play out like an insanely well-choreographed ballet routine and the end result could be closer to art than “just another action piece.” Given director Jon M. Chu’s insane work in LXD we know that he’s got the chops to pull this off in a spectacular fashion.

Three weeks from now I’ll be basking in the fanboy glow of having already seen the film. The passage of time, however, is a cruel mistress…

Check out the rest of the reasons to look forward to G.I. Joe Retaliation below and check back tomorrow as the countdown continues!

Of all of the reasons we’ve been given thus far, this is my favorite for the simple reason that it’s something that could have escaped notice entirely. Let’s face it– the El Camino is the platypus of the automotive industry. It’s a weird fusion of a car and a truck whose very design is almost symbolic of the late 60’s and 70’s. It also has the distinction of being the most unlikely G.I. Joe assault vehicle since the Joes commandeered the van of Bongo the Balloon Bear in the classic Marvel run. Now if only we’d get a nice 1:18 standard version in the Joe line. (I’m serious!)

Check out the rest of Twitziller’s images below as the countdown to G.I. Joe Retaliation continues!

Twitziller continues the countdown to G.I. Joe Retaliation on March 28th with today’s reason to get excited: Cobra Troopers!

The backbone of any army is the rank and file soldiers. Those troops conduct the missions, execute the objectives, and put themselves at risk for something larger than themselves. In the case of G.I. Joe Retaliation, those troopers are members of Cobra Special Forces— what appears to be a Blackwater-style private military organization that is secretly funded by Cobra Commander. With a new more realistic urban camouflage uniform and practical gear, these troopers are part of the Cobra revolution and it is up to the Joe team to stop it!

I can’t wait for the movie nor can I wait for the forthcoming “Cobra Combat Ninja” action figure in wave 3!

Twitziller continues his countdown to the premiere of G.I. Joe Retaliation with today’s image: Jinx!

Jinx is a character that received a lot more exposure in the Marvel Comics series than she did in any of the animated adventures from Sunbow. (She made her only 80’s animated appearance in the controversial G.I. Joe: The Movie.) The blind-fighting cousin of Thomas Arashikage, this female ninja was reported to bring bad luck to anyone who worked with her. Yet Jinx, like most of the females in the G.I. Joe mythos, was hardly a damsel in distress. Strong, capable, and deadly Kim Arashikage was force to be reckoned with on both the screen and the page.

This time around she’ll be brought to life by actress Elodie Yung as she throws on some yellow and black to assist Snake Eyes in what appears to be a daring mountain top extraction mission worthy of a similar scenario carried out by Snake Eyes and Agent Helix in the IDW solo Snake Eyes series.

We’re less than four week away… and G.I. Joe Retaliation looks better and better with each passing moment.

Check out the rest of Twitziller’s reasons to get excited for Retaliation below: